CYCLIC-NUCLEOTIDE GATED CHANNELS AS REGULATORS OF CNS DEVELOPMENT ANDPLASTICITY

Cyclic nucleotide gated (CNG) cation channels are critical for signal transduction in vertebrate visual and olfactory systems. Members of th e CNG channel gene family have now been cloned from a number of specie s, from Caenorhabditis elegans to humans. An important advance has bee n the discovery that CNG channels are present in many neurons of the m ammalian brain. CNG channels act as molecular links between G-protein- coupled cascades, Ca2+-signalling systems, and gaseous messenger pathw ays. Perhaps most striking are recent data implicating CNG channels in both developmental and synaptic plasticity.